Daytona Beach, FL – Daytona Beach City Commissioners are going ahead with a plan to join a lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. Commissioners voted unanimously on a resolution at last night’s meeting to sue manufacturers and providers for damages incurred by the City as a result of the opioid epidemic.

Attorney Michael Kahn, who drafted the city ordinance regarding panhandling, spoke before the Commission, detailing what the statistics are on opioid deaths and where the lawsuit is going. He said statistics on oxycodone since it was introduced in 1996 show that 350,000 Americans have died due to overdose. Everyday, Kahn said 17 more deaths are added to that total.

Kahn promises to get to work quickly, not even waiting for the signed contingency fee agreement. He said he will provide a draft of a complaint on behalf of Daytona Beach and begin work on what’s called a plaintiff fact sheet, which aggregates information, which is then turned into an algorithm, which will create a damage calculation.

Because lawsuits have been filed by so many municipalities, the Federal court system ordered all opioid lawsuits to be consolidated into Multidistrict Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Kahn assured the City Commission that this is not a class action suit but because of the number of lawsuits filed, the Feds have ordered them consolidated.

While Kahn did most of the talking on the lawsuit, the City will be represented by Attorney James Vickaryous. They will work on a contingency fee basis with all litigation coasts and fees to be paid out of any recovery obtained on behalf of the City.